Creativity
ECE 2203
Creativity
Creativity entails the ‘3Ps’ of a person engaging in
a creative process, which produces a creative
product (Barron, quoted in Dust, 1999)
The creative process involves:
imaginative activity
(the ability to generate a variety of ideas)
productivity (the ability to produce an outcome of
value and worth)
problem solving (application of knowledge and
imagination to a given situation)
More definitions …
‘Creativity: the use of imagination or original
ideas to create something; inventiveness
‘Creativity is learning at its most powerful’
(Claxton 2003)
Howard Gardner on Creativity
Gardner (1999) argues that truly creative people
are those who make a difference to a domain (e.g.
science, music, art) .This type of ‘big C’ creativity is
reserved for very few individuals.
Creativity with a ‘little c’
Craft, A. (2004: p56)
‘Little c’ creativity ‘focuses on the resourcefulness of
ordinary people’.
It involves:
being imaginative
being original/innovative
stepping at times out of convention,
going beyond the obvious
It is not necessarily linked to a product-outcome
It is a way of coping with everyday challenges
Fostering creativity in youngsters:
With young children it is better to adopt a democratic definition of creativity –
‘little c’
In this way each child can be considered to have creative potential and to be
capable of creative expression.
It is important to consider each child’s creative abilities against their personal
stage of development.
A young child’s work may not be considered original when judged against larger
norms, but may be original for that particular child and/or in relation to the peer
group.
Judging/assessing creativity in young
children
1. Tegano et al (1991) argue that when judging the
creativity of young children, it is appropriate to
place more emphasis on the creative process
than on the product: because children do not
always have the skills to make a creative product
2. Malaguzzi (1993) states that creativity
becomes more visible when adults try to be
more attentive to the cognitive processes of
children than to the results they achieve in
various fields of doing and understanding.
Encouraging Creativity in Young
Children
Mellou (1996) suggests that young children's creativity
can be nurtured through educational settings in 3
respects:
The creative environment
Creative programmes
Creative teachers and ways of teaching
Establishing a Creative Environment
Fundamental to the creative environment is the encouragement of
children’s play.
Imaginative play and free choice of activities (designed to
encourage selection, intrinsic motivation and persistence) would
seem to be key components of ECE settings in relation to creativity.
Prentice (2000) argues that ‘for creativity to flourish in an
educational setting, it is necessary for learners to be actively
involved in the process of their own learning.’
The stimulation offered by the physical environment is also
important.
Another issue is the need for children to be given sufficient and
sustained periods of time in which to develop creative projects.
How can teachers encourage
creativity?
by asking open ended questions
tolerating ambiguity (‘grey responses’)
by modelling creative thinking and behaviour
by encouraging experimentation
by encouraging persistence (saying “don’t give up!”)
by praising children who provide unexpected
responses
Albert Einstein on Creativity
“Creativity is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited while imagination
embraces the whole world”
Why does Einstein mean by this?
drawing
painting
sculpture
Model making-architecture
photography
film
printmaking
